The biggest difference-maker in sweeps wasn’t an awards show, a made-for-TV movie, or an extra-long episode of “Deal or No Deal.”
It was actually the NFL, which had a major and very opposite impact on ABC and NBC’s ratings for the four-week long period. “Monday Night Football’s” move away from ABC and “Sunday Night Football’s” addition on NBC pushed the networks in seemingly opposite directions.
At first glance, it looks as though ABC, which won the sweeps period among adults 18-49 with a 4.1 average, was hurting from the loss of football. Its average fell 7 percent from last November, when it averaged a 4.4.
But on closer examination, it’s NBC, whose average soared during sweeps, that’s facing bigger trouble.
Take away NFL games’ averages from last and this fall’s numbers, and ABC was actually the only network to rise year to year. Its non-sports average went from a 4.1 last year to a 4.3 this year, up 5 percent, while it rose 10 percent in total viewers, from 10.9 million to 12.1 million, just 800,000 behind leader CBS.
Meanwhile, the numbers for NBC, which was the only Big Four network to gain over last year for the November sweeps, don’t look quite as rosy when you drop “SNF.”
With sports numbers included, NBC averaged a 3.8 in 18-49s, up 15 percent from last year’s 3.3. Without sports, NBC averaged a 3.3, the same as last year.
This tells us two things. First, it shows that ABC was smart to walk away from “MNF,” despite some doubts from media people about whether the network could sustain its momentum without the show, which had long been losing money.
Second and more important, it raises questions about how NBC will perform in the second half of the year without “MNF.” The network has the biggest new hit of the season, the very impressive “Heroes,” which is now a top-10 show among 18-49s.
But even with “Heroes,” its non-sports rating has remained stagnant, and that’s troubling. “SNF” has masked some major problems with the network’s schedule, some of which it will address with its new midseason schedule but some of which it will not.
Tuesday night is faltering, with its season-to-date average down 24 percent, from a 4.6 to a 3.5. “Friday Night Lights” has flopped at 8 p.m., and more alarmingly, that has weakened “Law & Order: Criminal Intent’s” audience at 9, where it has dipped about 10 percent in recent weeks from its season average. New lead-in “Dateline” may not help.
And Sunday nights are a huge worry after “SNF,” considering the renewed vigor of CBS’s Sunday and ABC’s continued strength on the night. ABC faced the same problem for years on Monday, where it struggled to find a winning combination after “MNF” left for the year.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in sporting event ratings for the week ended Nov. 26, Fox’s Sunday NFL coverage was first with a 15.4 household rating.
The two Thanksgiving broadcast games on Fox and CBS ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, both ahead of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” at No. 4.
